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MILTON, NH – Moose Mountains Regional Greenways and Strafford Rivers Conservancy recently partnered to present a Hawk and Nature Watch and Walk field workshop. Naturalist Mark Suomala and property owner Steve Panish led 48 participants on a gentle climb up Teneriffe Mountain, a 102-acre property owned by Moose Mountains Regional Greenway’s Chairman of the Board Steve Panish that was recently conserved by Strafford Rivers Conservancy.
Suomala, a well-known naturalist and tour guide, described the importance of Teneriffe Mountain to the regional watershed. Although low cloud cover made it hard to spot migrating hawks, he shared his knowledge of their migration and explained the uniqueness of the mountain habitat and its importance to the regional watershed.
He started with a brief history of Milton, explaining how the development patterns inherent in an old New Hampshire mill town resulted in dense population in the valleys clustered around the river. Milton’s three ponds were created by a manmade dam in the Salmon Falls River. The entire area – both land and water – lies within the Salmon Falls watershed and eventually drains to the NH coast.
Suomala described the general habitat on Teneriffe Mountain – a transition zone between pine-barrens and open savannah-like areas that are both historically prone to natural burns. The barren top of Teneriffe Mountains is covered in bearberry, moss and lichen. The property’s open 10 acres of blueberry fields are important for a number of species, but this type of habitat is becoming scarce in NH. Some of the bird species that depend on large open areas include field sparrow, vesper sparrow and towhee.
To see a mass migration of hawks, Suomala explained, the conditions have to be just right. Look for a clear windy day with the wind coming out of the northwest. The hawks conserve energy by gliding rather than flapping, using the winds and thermals that rise off of the barren mountaintops. The birds rise up and circle on the thermals, then glide down to catch the next draft. Birds with larger wings are able to catch more draft and flap their wings less than the smaller species.
Suomala explained that migration is a broad term that means moving from one area to another. The hawks are driven to migrate by genetic coding, and the distance that they travel depends upon the coding of each breed. Some migrate as far as South America to find habitat similar to that of North America, while others migrate only a short distance in search of food sources. Adults are the first to leave. The young, on their own for the first time, generally begin their migration about two weeks after the parents.
Although the heavy cloud cover was not conducive to hawk watching on this particular day, the participants enjoyed Suomala’s presentation, the views from Teneriffe Mountain, and a short hike around the property. Participants also sited coyote scat, and Panish noted that he regularly sees fox, coyote, moose, deer and turkey on his land.
The Hawk Walk was funded by a grant from NH Estuaries Project, whose mission is to protect, enhance and monitor the environmental quality of the state’s estuaries, and supported by funds from the sale of the Conservation License Plate (Moose Plate) under the NH State Conservation committee grant program, which seeks to support and promote programs and partnerships throughout the state that protect, restore and enhance the state’s valuable natural resources.
Moose Mountains Regional Greenways is a non-profit conservation organization that works to conserve and connect the most special natural areas of northern Strafford and southern Carroll counties in New Hampshire. For more information call 603-817-8260.
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